“The territorial integrity of Ukraine is at risk,” the gathering stated in the resolution.

It added that instability in Ukraine is highly dangerous and may cause unpredictable consequences, considering that the country hosts five nuclear power plants with 15 reactors in total, which some extremists have threatened to attack.

The resent decisions of the national parliament were taken in conditions “of terror, threats of violence and death,” the resolution says. The gathering says the legislative acts may have been passed involuntarily and are neither legitimate nor lawful.

The opposition has broken the agreement with the government signed on Friday, the resolution says.

“Armed gangs have not given over their weapons, they continue taking over governmental buildings, killing citizens and officers of the law,” it says.

• The Kharkov public gathering has announced a number of measures local authorities should take in response to the developments in Kiev. They should take full responsibility for all decision in respective regions, with no regard to authorities in Kiev until the constitutional order in Ukraine is restored, a resolution of the gathering says.
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• The military commanders should take measures to protect arms depots and prevent their take-over and looting by radical opposition activists.
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• Meanwhile citizens are encouraged to form local militias to protect public order. Local authorities are to fund and support those militias.

Jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko will soon be released in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where she is being treated in hospital, her daughter signalled on Saturday. 
Yevgenia Tymoshenko said she was going to Kharkiv to meet her mother, who was jailed in 2011 for seven years for abuse of office linked to a gas deal and is a bitter rival of President Viktor Yanukovich. 
“According to Ukrainian law my mum is already a free person,” Yevgenia Tymoshenko told reporters following a vote in parliament to speed up procedures for her release. 
A spokeswoman for the former prime minister, 53, said that although the moves in parliament already made her a free woman, Tymoshenko had not yet been released or left the hospital where she is receiving treatment for a back problem. 

The public gathering of deputies from local councils of southeastern Ukraine have declared they are taking responsibility for constitutional order in the country, as thousands of people have assembled in the city of Kharkov.

The Kharkov public gathering has announced a number of measures local authorities should take in response to the developments in Kiev. They should take full responsibility for all decision in respective regions with no regard to authorities in Kiev until the constitutional order in Ukraine is restored, a resolution of the gathering says.

They authorities should take measures to protect arms depots and prevent their take-over and looting by radical opposition activists.

The deputies have criticized the decision adopted by the Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) in the last few days, saying they are raising doubts about its legitimacy.

The gathering says the legislative acts may have been passed involuntary and are neither legitimate nor lawful.

The resent decisions of the national parliament were taken in conditions “of terror, threats of violence and death,” the resolution says.

Meanwhile, citizens are encouraged to form local militias to protect public order. Local authorities are to fund and support those militias.

Over 10, 000 people have gathered at the city’s Sport Palace, where a total of 3,477 deputies have been holding a meeting.

The situation remains generally quiet with the crowd being partly in good spirits and partly subdued and concerned, Itar-Tass news agency reports from the Palace.

“3, 477 deputies from local councils in southeastern Ukraine have gathered. We have gathered here not to separate the country, but to save it,” the regional governor, Mikhail Dobkin, told the crowd.

There is a holiday atmosphere as people wander around fountains, gardens and golf course, taking selfies. No one has attempted to break into any of the buildings in the compound.

There were around 60 people who made the journey from his home in an apartment block. The mourners and the coffin were covered in bright carnations which contrasted with the monochrome, uniform architecture. His mother said that she wished the perpetrators would suffer the same loss as she was experiencing while his girlfriend said that Shapoval loved his country and knew his place was with the protesters. Shapoval’s 15-year old daughter was among the mourners.

Some media reports suggest that Yanukovich is in Kharkov, a city in Eastern Ukraine, which is a stronghold of his Party of Regions. The president is supposedly going to take part in a summit of members of regional parliaments from Eastern and Southern Ukraine. The emergency gathering will be discussing the ongoing crisis and the strategy the Euromaidan-skeptical regions will follow after the opposition gains in Kiev and in the west of the country.

Neither presidential staff nor local authorities in Kharkov confirmed Yanukovich’s visit. The local airport said the presidential plane had not landed there.

No police, no traffic police and no forms of authority evident anywhere. The citizens and the rebels appear to be controlling vast tracts of the city and barricades and have set up their own traffic control and traffic police. On the highway to the airport, a checkpoint has been formed by the public to ensure no movement of regime loyalists coming into Kiev from Yanukovych’s eastern heartland. Only a few days ago, it was the opposite, with a succession checkpoints on the highway controlled by regime loyalist thugs and police to stop insurrection reinforcements coming in.

Ukraine’s interior ministry said on Saturday it was in favour of “speedy change” and urged people to unite in ensuring security and the creation of an “independent, democratic and just” country. 
In a statement on its website, a day after parliament voted to dismiss Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko, the ministry said it served “exclusively the Ukrainian people and fully shares their strong desire for speedy change.” 
It urged citizens to unite “in the creation of a truly independent, democratic and just European country.” 

One of the guards addressed the crowd. He said he is not affiliated to any political party and is only there to keep order. He said that everyone would be allowed in but in an orderly fashion. When he said there would be no looting, the crowd cheered.

I have just passed through a makeshift checkpoint policed by demonstrators with baseball bats who appear to have taken responsibility for the city’s security.

The presidential administration where Yanukovych met EU foreign ministers yesterday has been deserted by securty forces. There are protesters outside who say the building is not being ransacked but they won’t allow journalists to enter.

There’s an eerie calm in the city. It’s unclear what happens next. We are waiting to see what Yanukovych says in Kharkhiv.

“Everything’s ok with him,” a source told Reuters. “He is in Ukraine.” Asked whether the embattled leader was in the capital, the source replied: “I cannot say.” 
The Unian news agency cited Anna Herman, a lawmaker close to Yanukovych, as saying the president was in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv. 

“Today he left the capital,” Klitschko told an emergency session of parliament, which was debating an opposition motion calling on Yanukovych to resign. “Millions of Ukrainians see only one choice - early presidential and parliamentary elections.” 
Yanukovych’s whereabouts were not known, though he had been due to visit the north-eastern city of Kharkiv. His residence outside the capital was empty and unguarded and journalists were entering freely, media reported. 

Protesters in the Ukrainian capital claimed full control of the city Saturday following the signing of a Western-brokered peace deal aimed at ending the nation’s three-month political crisis. The nation’s embattled president, Viktor Yanukovych, reportedly had fled the capital for his support base in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning east
Police abandoned posts around the capital, and protesters took up positions around the presidential office and residence.
Parliament discussed voting on impeaching Yanukovych and setting a quick date for new elections to end a crisis over Ukraine’s identity and future direction.
Yanukovych’s whereabouts were unclear Saturday morning. Media outlets reported that he left Kiev for his native eastern Ukraine after surrendering much of his powers and agreeing to early elections by the end of the year.